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by Maureen A. Taylor
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 Monday, June 25, 2012
Photo Contest Submissions
Posted by Maureen
A big thank you to everyone that submitted photos to our contest. The deadline has now passed and I'm gradually working my way through all the images to pick the winning image. The winner will receive a copy of my book, The Family Photo Detective, and the image may even be featured inside. Watch this space for news!
Here are three of the pictures folks uploaded to the Family Tree Magazine Facebook page.
Jen Baldwin uploaded this cute pair of siblings—William W. and his sister Bessie Brown. It was taken in Colfax County, Neb., circa 1880. Don't you just love her pantalettes and his long curls.
Shirley Jenks Jacobs uploaded this photo of her great-grandmother. I love the hat. In the 1880s, hats had tall crowns and lots of trim on the front. You can't see it, but women in this period also wore large bustles.
Suzanne Whetzel submitted this family portrait of her maternal great-grandparents Mary Ethel (Wade) and Henry Clark Yost with their son (Suzanne's grandfather) James Meryl Yost. James was born in 1908 and this toddler helps date the photo to about 1910.
Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:
Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900
Preserving Your Family Photographs
Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900
Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album
1870s photos | 1880s photos | children | group photos | hats
Monday, June 25, 2012 3:18:25 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00) 
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Sunday, June 17, 2012
Family Photos Shared at Jamboree: Threshing Wheat
Posted by Maureen
I love going to genealogy conferences. The people, the photos and the stories all add up to a fantastic experience. For the last four years I've trekked out to California for the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree. It's a regional conference with a national feel—a big program with nationally known speakers.
Every year, folks stop by to show me their photos. Some people come back each year and as you might expect, friendships develop.
Here's a picture of Mildred "Millie" Vander Hoeven and me at Jamboree in 2010.
Millie stops by to chat and share stories of her childhood. She's sent me pictures of her childhood and her parents.
Family photo collections are an amazing array of people portraits and other types of pictures. These next two images of Millie's show men threshing wheat. I need to chat with her to get a bit more information.
Can anyone—perhaps someone familiar with farming—comment on what the crews are doing in these photos? Click Comments below to share your thoughts.
Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:
Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900
Preserving Your Family Photographs
Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900
Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album
Genealogy events | occupational | unusual photos
Sunday, June 17, 2012 2:57:07 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Monday, June 11, 2012
Jean-ealogy: Ancestors in Blue Jeans
Posted by Diane
When I was working on my book Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album, I spent a lot of time looking for all sorts of clothing examples.
As one of the photo shows, I found this picture of a man wearing what looks like blue jeans. Today jeans are an American export, possibly our most popular clothing style overseas.
The ancestor of the jeans we wear today dates back to 1873.
Levi Strauss, an 1840s German immigrant, immigrant is responsible for our blue jean obsession. He sold canvas pants reinforced with copper rivets, which were strong enough to withstand the rigors of mining. You can learn more about the history of these pants online.
During the Civil War, there was a cotton twill called jean cloth. The man in this late-1860s image wears an overcoat and trousers that look like they are the predecessors of the canvas jeans. 
In his right hand, the man holds what I think is a divining rod for looking for water.
Got a picture of an ancestral family member in blue jeans? I'll feature it here in a timeline of the pants in family photos. Email me your picture with a brief description.
1860s photos | Civil War | hats | men | occupational | props in photos | unusual clothing
Monday, June 11, 2012 6:23:32 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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Sunday, June 03, 2012
Westward Bound! Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree
Posted by Maureen
This week I'm off to the Southern California Genealogical Society Jamboree and a meeting of the California Genealogical Society. I hope to see you there! Please stop by my booth at the Jamboree to say hello.
All this California travel makes me think about western American style clothing worn in family photos—in particular Stetson hats, jeans and frontier bonnets. Do you have a photo of someone dressed for the West? I'd love to see it. You can email me.
I love the story of the Stetson hat. It's an example of American ingenuity. John B. Stetson, son of a Philadelphia hat manufacturer, took a trip West to recover from consumption. He showed his companions how to make felted fabric and created a hat from that material.
In 1865, Stetson founded his hat company. He called his hat the "Boss of the Plains." It wasn't a new design: Similar style hats were worn by Army units, and wide-brimmed hats were also popular on plantations because they offered shade.
It was Stetson's marketing efforts that made his hat a success. He wore his hat everywhere and each hat bore a gold leaf Stetson on the inside to mark it as authentic.
Wearers could use them to retrieve water for washing or drinking, earning them the nickname, "10 gallon hat."
You'll find more information on Stetsons and other types of western hats in my book Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900.
Solve your family photo mysteries with these books by Maureen A. Taylor:
Fashionable Folks: Bonnets and Hats 1840-1900
Preserving Your Family Photographs
Fashionable Folks: Hairstyles 1840-1900
Finding the Civil War in Your Family Album
1880s photos | men | unusual clothing
Sunday, June 03, 2012 5:39:02 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)
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